Somalia Faces Deadly Drought Again as Humanitarian Aid Largely Absent
Three consecutive seasons of failed rains have doubled Somalia's malnutrition rate and displaced more than 300,000 people since January, Al Jazeera reported from
Somalia's funding collapse has crossed into structural territory. OCHA's program contracted from $2.6 billion in 2023 to $852 million this year, with only 13 percent raised, making triage, not response, the operational reality. Suspended camp operations in Kismayo likely cannot reconstitute supply chains on any seasonal timeline. Save the Children's closure of more than 200 health centers and 400 schools since 2025 is physical infrastructure damage that outlasts rainfall patterns. The World Bank's May 13 assessment finds aid withdrawal compressing Somalia's labor market independently of weather, likely extending vulnerability beyond any near-term funding recovery. Diaspora remittances exceeding $1 billion annually may be buffering urban households in ways aggregate malnutrition figures undercount, making the crisis geographically uneven.